Linda's Italian Casserole

Oy vey, I had to get tweeky. Decided on Linda's Italian Casserole, a perfectly lovely looking dish from everyone's favorite low carb recipe guru, Linda Sue. But it called for mushrooms, and I didn't have any, but I did have some zucchini sitting around waiting for a purpose. It called for shredded mozzarella, but I had this presliced log, which I decided to just crumble up. It called for Italian Sausage, but I had some precooked Italian chicken sausages taking up space in the fridge. 7x11 baking dish? Ha! Used an 8x8.

What could go wrong???

Add caption

Really? Absolutely nothing! It was a bit of a soupy mess because the zucchini leeched all it's liquid into the dish. And the mozzarella is a little stringy. Had to serve it up with a slotted spoon. But you know what? It's a delicious soupy stringy mess. Both the kiddo and HD like it.


So next time, and there will be a next time, I will salt the zucchini and drain to get some moisture out, and use some ground Italian sausage with a touch of fennel in it.

It's ugly, but delicious

Linda's Italian Casserole

1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound Italian sausage (used two links chicken Italian sausages, cut up)
1 clove garlic, minced (used a tablespoon of the pre-minced stuff)
2 tablespoons onion, chopped (used about a quarter of an onion)
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced (eliminated, used 1 med zucchini, sliced into thin rounds)
8 ounce can tomato sauce
Salt, to taste
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning, or to taste
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded, 1 cup

Topping:
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese *
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded, 1 cup

Brown the meats along with the garlic, onions and mushrooms; season with a little salt and pepper. Drain fat; stir in the remaining ingredients. Adjust the seasoning if necessary and put in a greased 7x11" baking dish.

Combine the topping ingredients and spoon over the surface of the meat mixture. Spread evenly with a spatula. Bake at 350º about 40 minutes until the topping is nicely browned.

Makes 8 servings

P.S. Sorry for my poor photography skills, I used my phone!